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Reluctant Queen (2011)

by Freda Lightfoot(Favorite Author)

3.37 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0727869507 (ISBN13: 9780727869500)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Severn House Publishers

review 1: This is the story of the love between Henry IV of France and his mistress Gabrielle. They fight against the queen margot for a divorce. Gabrielle has many children with Henry, and all she wants is to be his life. Sure Henry still strays from her bed, but not near as much as before she was there. She knows he is his one true love. Eventually towards the end of the book, the divorce is granted and Gabrielle and Henry are so happy to be getting married finally. However, Henry's own advisers plot against Gabrielle and kill her and her child by poisoning her. Henry is heart broken but only temporarily, because he finds a new mistress.
review 2: I was really looking forward to reading this book, since I love historical fiction, but I was sadly disappointed. T... morehe book is supposedly about Gabrielle's relationship with Henry, yet she isn't even introduced into the book until more than halfway through, so I spent the entire book trying to figure out who the protagonist even is. First, I was wavering between Margot or Jeanne of Tignonville (who begins the book, and whose character is established prior to even Margot's or Gabrielle's). And then I realized that it had to be either Margot or Gabrielle. If the protagonist is unclear, then who, as the reader, is one supposed to empathize with? And a more important question, who is the reluctant queen? It would seem to be Margot...the queen who won't give up her title to a nobody, even though she has no true desire to be with Henry. But then, there is Gabrielle, the mistress who yearns to be queen. If it is the former, this conflicts with the fact that the book is supposed to revolve around Henry and Gabrielle. It is a good book, well written, and with likable characters, but with major questions such as these unanswered, unfortunately, the story is lacking, and I finished the book feeling very unsatisfied. less

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